


A Problem With The Wiring

by candylestrade



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Autistic Donnie, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, a friend asked for raph comforting donnie through a depressive episode and i . went a little wild, autistic raph, listen. I Love Them, team big brother, that appears to be my go-to for fics huh.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:15:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25548811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candylestrade/pseuds/candylestrade
Summary: Donnie can’t sleep. Neither can Raph. Time for a 4am cereal meeting.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 113





	A Problem With The Wiring

**Author's Note:**

> raph and don need more interactions in canon so i made this. Enjoy!

The soft purple light in Donnie’s room was supposed to help with sleep. Splinter had insisted he install it since ‘that neon garbage is going to hurt your eyes, Purple!’, and so Donnie had begrudgingly set up a ‘Night Mode’ for his room. It turned the main lights off, and lit up the faintest violet light around the corners of his bed. It was SUPPOSED to help with sleep.

That didn’t mean it actually did anything.

It certainly wasn’t doing anything right now. Instead of sleeping, Donnie was lying there, his Jupiter Jim doll next to him, feeling his frustration boiling in his stomach. It was supposed to help. Why wasn’t it working? Was it a problem with the wiring? Maybe he needed to continue to work at it before it would actually help with his sleeping. He rolled over to check the clock on his tech-bō.

It was 3:46am. 

That was it, somehow. The time had become the straw that broke the camel's back. Donnie let out a frustrated yell, and slammed his fist into the mattress next to him.

‘Ack- oh, no…’

There was a drastic clatter from outside. He froze. Oh, shit, someone else is awake. He scrambled up in bed, pulled his hoodie on and slipped out of his room.

Raph stood in the main room, looking around nervously. He jumped when he saw Donnie approaching, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

‘I’m gonna assume that was you shouting, and not some crazed mutant about to kill us all in our sleep?’

Donnie forced a smile. ‘Since we are both awake, it would technically be incorrect even if there was a crazed mutant - ‘ 

‘Don.’

‘Sorry. But yes, it was me.’

Raph sighed. ‘You made me drop my cereal bowl…’

‘That’s what that was?’ Donnie squinted at his brother. ‘Since when are you the one getting cereal at nearly 4am? That’s me and Leo’s gig.’

They started towards the kitchen, Raph laughing slightly.

‘Okay, fair point. But when are you the one yelling like a demon at nearly 4am? That’s, like, half the other mutants in the city’s gig, man.’

Donnie slumped onto a chair, and started poking at the imperfections in the table. ‘I dunno. Stupid nocturnal-mode lighting not helping me sleep. Stupid dumb-dumb wiring probably broken. Stupud dumb-dummy idiot brain won’t shut up and the STUPID dummy DUMB-DUMB  _ IDIOT-‘ _

‘Donnie.’

Donnie stopped. Ah.

‘Don, you’re not stupid.’ Raph had stopped pouring his cereal and sat opposite him at the table. ‘Has that been what's keeping you up recently? The lighting wiring?’’

‘Yes. No. Kind of. It’s… complicated.’ He pretended to be very interested in the Jupiter Jim doll he was still holding. It was the one his brothers got him from the convention, when he’d been too absorbed in his video game to go. ‘I keep finding tech problems. And I fix them, of course, but more keep popping up. And there’s… nothing that’s actually wrong with the lighting.’

Raph frowned. ‘But you said…’

Donnie shook his head. ‘It’s not a lighting problem.’ He looked back up at Raph. ‘It’s a ME problem. I’m the problem. My brain is the problem. It won’t shut up and I can’t sleep, or make myself sleep, or anything. And if my tech doesn’t work, and I don’t work, then what’s the point?’

‘Donnie…’ He looked up and was startled to see tears were forming in Raph’s eyes. He blinked them away and rubbed at his face. ‘Don, I… me too.’

There was silence for a second. 

‘... Huh?’

Raph fidgeted with his hands. ‘I haven’t been sleeping properly. I suppose me being here right now proves that, but…’

Donnie didn’t say anything. He just listened. Raph inhaled and carried on.

‘Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about my place as leader. I know I’m the oldest, and the biggest, but… I’m definitely not the smartest. Or the best at plans, or the best at,’ he waved his hands around vaguely, ‘emotions. That’s you, and Leo, and Mikey. All I’m good to be is a shield. And if I’m not that, if I stop being the strongest, what place do I have on the team?’

The silence dragged on for a few more seconds. Raph blinked and then laughed. 

‘Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have talked so much, huh?’

‘Raph. I love you, you know that?’

‘Yeah, I know that.’

‘And you know everyone else loves you.’

‘Yep. That’s what brothers are for.’

Donnie inhaled, and exhaled. ‘So what else does any of it matter?’

Raph glanced back at him. ‘Huh?’

‘I had a talk with April the other day. I was worried about my tech, and what it would mean if you found something better, blah blah doesn’t matter moving ON.’ Raph smiled. Classic Donnie. ‘Anyway, the point is, even if we don’t have something to offer on the team, we love you for being YOU. We’re not just a team, we’re family, you know? And we’re never not going to want you as our brother, excuse the double negative.’

Donnie smiled at Raph, both now with tears in their eyes. 

‘And yes, you can have a hug.’

Raph beamed, and scooted around the table to wrap his arms around Donnie. Donnie didn’t mind at all; Raph’s hugs were the best hugs out of the whole family. Warm and gentle, and never too tight, and always filled with love.

‘Love you, ya nerd. And take your own advice. Or April’s, I guess.’

‘Exasperated sigh. I love you too, Raph.’

-

Raph ended up carrying Donnie back to his room; he fell right to sleep after a few minutes of hugs. Raph beamed as he looked at his peacefully sleeping brother, illuminated by the purple lights above his bed.

‘Sleep well, Donnie.’

-

When Raph went to sleep the next night, he found a new button next to his bed that transformed his room into a map of lilac stars. 

He was asleep within minutes.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> listen raphs gonna have insomnia too. i know insomniac leo is the most popular hc but LISTEN


End file.
